99-room hotel planned for site of former town hall on Rte. 211

TOWN OF WALLKILL — Town officials have reached a deal with developers to build a four-story, 99-room hotel on the Route 211 site where the former town hall stands.

Richard J. Bayne

TOWN OF WALLKILL — Town officials have reached a deal with developers to build a four-story, 99-room hotel on the Route 211 site where the former town hall stands.

The old town hall has been vacant for the past six years, since town offices moved to Tower Drive. It is about one-tenth of a mile east of North Galleria Drive, at 600 Route 211 East.

The developers, Chet Patel of New Hampton and Jake Kriney of Goshen, operating as JCAHotels, said they are planning a mid-price hotel, but would not name the franchisee.

That information is expected to be available in about two months.

Patel and Kriney said the operators would not be one with an existing location in the town.

The project is expected to cost $7 million to $10 million, depending on which chain ends up occupying the site.

Wallkill Supervisor Dan Depew said the parties expect to close on the deal by the end of the year. Construction is expected to take about a year.

"This is what we've been waiting for," Depew said, as he introduced the developers Tuesday at a town hall news conference. "This is something we are proud of."

Kriney said they chose the site for its "great visibility" next to heavily trafficked Route 211.

Depew said he doesn't expect the hotel to create traffic problems. There is a break in the median directly across from the site to allow left-hand turns. And, Depew said, the town operated "the sixth-busiest court in New York" for years, and that did not cause traffic difficulties.

Depew said the purchase price was $1.6 million, and the developers have put down a $50,000, nonrefundable deposit.

He said the developers will not be getting any special tax breaks, and the town saved about $100,000 in realtor fees by negotiating the deal itself.

The developers plan to build some retail businesses at the front of the site, in accordance with a previously approved plan. They intend to put the hotel at the back of the 4.4-acre site.